


Fulfillment

by amuk



Series: The Beaten Path [13]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Betrayal, Friendship, Gen, Loss, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-28
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 05:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/658696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amuk/pseuds/amuk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s coming home and that doesn’t seem to make her feel better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fulfillment

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt/Theme: Day 8 // satisfaction
> 
> Theme: Week 2—Chance encounters
> 
> I don’t like this one all that much, but I was attempting to improve on my action sequences. Let’s call this an experimental piece, then.

She lightly nurses her hand, one eye on Sasuke as he sits there in a stony silence. His limbs are bound and chakra inaccessible and she knows it is safe to say that he can’t escape on his own. There’s dried blood on his nose from where she punched him.

 

She can still hear the sickening crack as her stinging fist left his face, the crazed gleam in Sasuke’s eyes as he fought. Still see Naruto, a blur of Kyuubi chakra, as he fought tooth and nail.

 

Now, nearly back in Konoha, she thinks she should feel some sort of satisfaction. He knows how strong she is. They are finally going to come home with him. Team Seven is whole once more.

 

Everything is how they wanted it.

 

And still, there is a hole in her, born from that night when the moon was bright and his figure distant. It eats at her as she stands there, watching him. There is nothing, no pleasure or joy or even relief, just a feeling of tiredness overcoming her as she waits for Naruto to come back.

 

He says nothing, hasn’t spoken a word since he woke up. Just tested the wires once and then remained still.

 

This worries her. She cannot fathom why, only that something is wrong with this uncharacteristic silence.

 

As she hears Naruto come crashing back through the forest, she catches a slight shift in Sasuke’s countenance. A small quirk of the lips, a narrowing of his eyebrows, and she can see the madness that has taken over him.

 

Oh, she thinks faintly as the expression fades once more, that must be it.

 

It’s not Sasuke they’re bringing home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This the scene before the fic, but it didn’t really fit in with the main story, so I couldn’t put it above it.

His body reels back, a sickening crack echoing as she pulls back her stinging fist. Opportunity given, Naruto leaps into the fray, a blur of orange and yellow as he moves. He dodges Sasuke’s blind punch, recoiling only when he failed to notice the accompanying kick.

 

As he twists his body, leaning forward to land on his feet, Sakura fills in the gap, pulling Sasuke down with a well-timed earth jutsu.

 

 It’s almost too easy, this fight. Naruto’s already back on his feet and Sasuke’s still a little clumsier, a little slower, than the last time they saw him.

 

It has everything, she knows, to do with the blood-smeared bandages that are lying abandoned on the ground. His eyes are dripping blood, unfocused and moving too rapidly for him to control. They haven’t recovered from whatever operation he did and now he’s pushing them too hard.

 

When he falls, she isn’t surprised, already holding the wires to tie him up with.


End file.
